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Glite Dictionary
from womb to tomb

from womb to tomb

6.5
Throughout a person's life from birth to death
  • idiom
translation icon : de la cuna a la tumba
  • From womb to tomb.

And so it goes on right the way to, you know, from, from from womb to tomb.

Examples

  • He reflected on how his experiences shaped him from womb to tomb, influencing his beliefs and values.

  • The documentary explored the journey of humans from womb to tomb, highlighting key moments in every stage of life.

  • I feel confident that the time will come when "person" includes all human beings from womb to tomb.

    Blog text (31)

  • The support from her family was with her from womb to tomb, providing love and guidance throughout her life.

Synonyms

cradle-to-grave
vsfrom womb to tomb
5 7.3

Lasting for a person's whole life or for the whole time something exists

focuses specifically on a single person's life rather than any duration
from the cradle to the grave
vsfrom womb to tomb
  • Informal
2 4.0

Lasts from a person's birth to their death

shares the same meaning but appears in shorter forms
womb-to-tomb
vsfrom womb to tomb
7.4

Covers a person's whole life from birth to death

has the same meaning but uses a full phrase instead

Antonyms

briefly
414 1.0

For a short time or in a few words

How Long

from womb to tomb
6.5
decade-long
16 3.4
for a while
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

from womb to tomb positive

Morphology

from + womb + to + tomb

The phrase directly combines a starting preposition ('from') + 'womb' (place of birth/gestation) and an ending preposition ('to') + 'tomb' (place of burial), yielding a clear temporal span of life from birth to death. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common (cf. 'cradle to grave'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

The phrase from womb to tomb comes from a simple image: womb is where life begins and tomb is where it ends. So the phrase is used to mean 'from birth to death' or 'throughout a person's life'.